September is
HUNGER ACTION MONTH
There are lots of ways to fight hunger in your community. Here are specific ways to partner with COM in September.
Wear Orange
The color for Hunger Action Month is orange, and we want to see you decked out in it! In addition to posting your orange selfies on social media, we are also encouraging all our volunteers to wear orange when they volunteer at COM this month. Each day you wear orange, you will have your name entered into a drawing for a prize at the end of the month.
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Participate in our Canstruction Contest or host Food Drives
Our "Can-Struction Contest" will be taking place November 11th-14th of 2025. The idea behind the contest is for church groups, businesses, school classes, and other organizations to collect canned and dry goods and build an artistic sculpture out of those food items. COM then judges each creation to find the best one and the food collected gets donated to COM's food pantry at the end to help out families here in Polk County. Full rules, as well as photos from the 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2023 competitions, are listed at bolivarcom.org/canstruction
If your church, school, or club wants to do their own food drive to help the pantry, simply reach out to Kendall at KendallV@bolivarcom.org or 417-326-2769 x1501.
Volunteer
There are countless volunteer opportunities at COM! With such a wide range of ministries and programs, there are always ways for you to serve no matter what your skills or interests may be. Volunteer opportunities are posted at bolivarcom.org/volunteer.
Donate
In 2025, COM's Food Pantry costs will increase by around 40% due to USDA budget cuts. Although the full impact remains to be seen, we do know it will mean less food in our pantry for Polk County residents. As a member of Ozarks Food Harvest (OFH), COM also receives TEFAP commodities, which last year made up approximately 36% of all food that was distributed through our food pantry. If cuts to our local food allotments mirror cuts at the federal level, this means we could see a shortfall of about 40 tons of food in 2025.
In light of these changes, we are asking for our community to step up and fill the gap. So, what can you do?
Consider a Compassion Collaborative membership or donation.
Compassion Collaborative is COM's monthly giving program. Memberships include several benefits, including insider communications, a free book for Book Club, and more. More importantly, memberships provide reliable revenue for our ministry to continue and expand our work. Memberships begin at just 65 cents a day, but make a huge difference.
And if you are already a Compassion Collaborative member, perhaps you have debated about increasing your monthly gift. If so, now is a great opportunity to do so.